The UK economy would receive a boost of around £2.6tn if the Government was able to provide every pupil with just the basic skills in reading and maths, according to one of the world’s leading education experts.

Around a fifth of the UK’s 15 year olds struggle to complete the most basic tasks in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Andreas Schleicher, the think tank’s director for education and skills has said.

But if ministers were able to raise the level of understanding among UK teenagers to those of the highest performing countries, such as Japan, South Korea or Shanghai, China, it would generate trillions to the economy.

Extreme underperformance

PISA covers subjects including reading, maths and science.

In a speech due to be delivered at the Education World Forum in London on Monday, Mr Schleicher will say: “It’s tempting to think that at least the high-income OECD countries would have all the means to eliminate extreme underperformance in education.

“But that isn’t the case. For example, one in five 15-year-olds in the United Kingdom do not successfully complete even the most basic Level 1 PISA tasks.

“If the United Kingdom were to ensure that all students had at least basic skills, the economic gains could reach 3.6 trillion dollars in additional income for the economy over the working life of these students, or 1.4 times the size of the current economy.

Realistic boost

“To put it differently, the economic gains that would accrue solely from eliminating extreme underperformance in high-income OECD countries would more than pay for the primary and secondary education of all students.”

Making such improvements in educational performance were “entirely realistic”, Mr Schleicher added.

Countries such as Poland have been able to reduce the proportion of students that fail the PISA tests by a third, from 22 per cent to 14 per cent in less than 10 years.
The international PISA rankings have grown in influence in the last 15 years, directly affecting policy making decisions in the UK since 2010.

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